Wu Xiuzhen’s chest heaved with anger. “That wretched girl is spreading rumors like this at school? Does she hate seeing the family get along?”
Wu Jin sniffled. “Is she spreading rumors? Isn’t what she said the truth? Which of you has treated her well? She doesn’t even have a phone. You didn’t hear what my classmates said about me!”
Wu Xiuzhen was furious. “This isn’t over. I’m going to school to find her tomorrow!”
Jiang Chan had no idea trouble was heading her way. With her position at the top firmly established, she had become more popular than ever in Class One. She had barely arrived in the classroom that morning when the student in front of her handed her a bottle of milk.
“Qiaoqiao, here. You’re so short. Drink more milk to get some calcium so you can grow taller.”
“Qiaoqiao, these are little cakes my mom made this morning. You’re still growing. You should eat more.”
“Qiaoqiao…”
Most of those approaching Jiang Chan were girls. Her small, thin appearance had stirred their maternal instincts. Jiang Chan smiled. “Thank you. I’ll gladly accept them.”
“You’re welcome. Just explain more problems to us in the future. When I did my homework last night, I followed your approach and got through it much more efficiently.”
A boy spoke with a smile, drawing agreement from the students around him.
“Now I envy you boarders. You get two extra periods with Lian Qiao. Just thinking about it makes me feel I’ve missed so much.” A day student laughed. “Maybe I should apply to board too.”
Listening to her classmates banter, Jiang Chan held her milk and drank, her cheeks puffing out. After morning study came Old Tang’s Chinese lesson. During the break, Old Tang came to tell her that her parents were in the office.
Jiang Chan raised an eyebrow. They had lost their composure so quickly? She followed Old Tang to the office at an unhurried pace. The moment she entered, she sensed something wrong and nimbly turned sideways, dodging the slap Wu Xiuzhen swung at her.
Seeing Wu Xiuzhen’s flushed face, Jiang Chan’s expression darkened. “Since you’re so worked up, I have nothing to say to you. I’m going back to class.”
Wu Xiuzhen screamed, “Don’t you dare! Now that you think you can stand on your own, you won’t listen to us anymore?”
Old Tang hurriedly caught Jiang Chan and shielded her behind him. “Lian Qiao’s mother, I don’t understand why you’re so angry. Lian Qiao is a good student. She hasn’t done anything wrong, has she?”
Lian Shuguo also held Wu Xiuzhen back. “Enough. Why are you so angry with her? Didn’t we agree to talk calmly before coming? Why did you try to hit her right away?”
Lian Qiao leaned against Old Tang’s desk. “Judging by this, you know I skipped a grade? Wu Jin told you when she went home?”
At the mention of Wu Jin, Wu Xiuzhen became agitated again. “You have the nerve to mention your sister? Ah Jin cried all night after she came home. Don’t you feel the slightest bit guilty?”
Lian Shuguo also looked at Jiang Chan disapprovingly, as though she had done something unforgivable.
Jiang Chan sneered. “Ha. What have I done? What does my skipping a grade have to do with Wu Jin? What does my coming first have to do with her? If being smart is a crime, then I admit it. It’s not my fault she can’t match me.”
“You’re still twisting things. We’re a family. Can’t you give way a little?” Lian Shuguo grew anxious too. Why did this child have to speak so sharply?
“How ridiculous. I’ve never heard of younger children having to give way to older ones. You really have opened my eyes. We’re independent, equal individuals. In the eyes of the law, she and I are equals. Why am I a level beneath Wu Jin in your eyes?”
Jiang Chan’s words struck a chord with many teachers. The English teacher nodded. “I’ve only ever heard that older siblings should care for the younger ones. I’ve never heard that younger siblings must give way to the older ones.”
“Since you’re here today, I have a few things to tell you too. If you want to dote on your own children, that has nothing to do with me. But stop expecting my concessions to fulfill your desire to be loving parents. This is the tuition money you gave me the day before yesterday. I’m returning it now.”
Jiang Chan slapped a stack of money down in front of Wu Xiuzhen. “The tuition and the twenty yuan in spending money you gave me. I’m returning all of it. If there’s nothing else, I’ll go back to class.”
Wu Xiuzhen went wild. “Stop right there! If you walk out that door today, never come back! I’ll pretend I never gave birth to a daughter like you. We won’t be responsible for your tuition or living expenses anymore!”
Jiang Chan paused. “Do you think I want to go back? Do you think I want to be your daughter? Let me make this clear. From now on, my affairs have nothing to do with you. Whether I live well or badly is none of your concern. I’ll cover my own tuition and living expenses. I don’t need this hypocritical concern of yours.”
Lian Shuguo raised his voice too. “Lian Qiao, how can you speak to your mother like that? She’s concerned about you!”
Jiang Chan leaned against the office doorway. “Please. I have no use for your cheap concern. It only makes me sick. Since you insist on arguing, let’s go through this properly. Let me explain to everyone. Wu Jin is her daughter with her former husband. Lian Yanbin is your son with your former wife. And I am your daughter with her.”
When this came up, all the teachers in the office felt that this family’s relationships were truly tangled.
“How noble you are. To avoid giving people anything to criticize, you go all out to treat each other’s children well. And me? I have to come after them in everything. In all my years growing up, you’ve never bought me a single new piece of clothing. Everything I wear is something Wu Jin no longer wants. Some clothes, she’d rather donate than let me wear. All I get are the things she doesn’t want or like.”
“It’s not as though our family is rich. Paying for all of you to go to school is already hard enough. In the past, didn’t everyone pass the same clothes from one person to another?” Wu Xiuzhen looked embarrassed, and her voice grew much quieter toward the end.
“Fine. Then I won’t talk about that. You drive Wu Jin to and from school almost every day. I’m three years younger than her, yet I have to take the bus every day. When it rains or snows, you only ever remember Wu Jin, while I have to walk for an hour to get home by myself.”
Jiang Chan spoke very calmly. Some of the more sensitive female teachers in the office already had red eyes.
“When Wu Jin comes home at night, you make her a late-night snack. I get nothing. Wu Jin uses the newest iPhone. It costs several thousand yuan, but you bought it without batting an eye. I don’t even have a phone.”
“When school started, you gave Wu Jin her tuition and a hundred yuan in spending money. I only got twenty. When I left home, there were only two steamed buns left on the table. Your favoritism is far too obvious. She seems more like your biological daughter.”
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